The popularity of motorcycling continues to increase. Riders are attracted to the freedom of the open road, leaving behind the cares and worries of everyday life. Motorcycle manufacturers have seized upon the recent surge in popularity and have been selling motorcycles and accessories in record numbers.
Obviously, motorcycles cannot carry as many items as motor vehicles. In order to provide as much carrying capacity as possible, saddlebags are attached to the motorcycle. A motorcycle may have saddlebags for carrying the rider's personal gear, repair tools or other items. One saddlebag is typically mounted to a bracket attached to the frame rearward of the rider's seat on each side of the motorcycle. Although many saddlebags are made of leather, others are made of fiberglass or a similar rigid material.
Saddlebags generally must be removed to perform any significant maintenance on the motorcycle. Removing a saddlebag may be inconvenient and time consuming because the saddlebag is often bolted to the mounting bracket, which in turn is bolted to the frame of the motorcycle. For example, to remove each saddlebag from the HARLEY-DAVIDSON HERITAGE motorcycle, one must unscrew four bolts to detach the saddlebag from the mounting bracket and unscrew three bolts to detach the mounting bracket from the frame. Obviously, this is time consuming and very inconvenient.
Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus that enables the quick and easy mounting and removal of motorcycle saddlebags.
It will be recognized that some or all of the Figures are schematic representations for purposes of illustration and do not necessarily depict the actual relative sizes or locations of the elements shown. The Figures are provided for the purpose of illustrating one or more embodiments of the invention with the explicit understanding that they will not be used to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.
Features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated from review of the following detailed description of the invention, along with the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings.